A Hybrid Fuzzy BWM-COPRAS Method for Analyzing Key Factors of Sustainable Architecture

Hannan Amoozad Mahdiraji,Sepas Arzaghi,Edmundas Zavadskas,Gintaras Stauskis

doi:10.3390/su10051626

Abstract

Sustainable development by emphasizing on satisfying the current needs of the general public without threating their futures, alongside with taking the environment and future generations under consideration, has become one of the prominent issues in different societies. Therefore, identifying and prioritizing the key factors of sustainable architecture according to regional and cultural features could be the first step in sustaining the architecture as a process and an outcome. In this paper, the key indicators of the environmental sustainability in contemporary architecture of Iran has been identified and prioritized. This study has been performed in three phases. First, identifying key factors of environmental sustainability according to the experts’ point of view and transforming the collected data to triangular fuzzy numbers. Subsequently, the best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method (henceforth BWM) under grey system circumstances has determined the weights and priority of the identified criteria. Eventually, identified key factors were prioritized by the complex proportional assessment method (hereafter COPRAS) under the condition of fuzzy sets. The results indicate that the key factors of creating engagement between buildings and other urban systems has the highest priority in the built environment sustainability in contemporary architecture and proving building management systems has the lowest.

Highlights

Sustainability is not a new concern; since the introduction of the concept in 1987, there has been a proliferation of competing notions of sustainability to the extent that it has become an empty box, a fragmented concept
At first, best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method (BWM), complex proportional assessment method (COPRAS), fuzzy sets theory, and a defuzzification technique are explained in detail
In order to check the reliability of the comparisons a consistency ratio is proposed for the BWM [45]

Summary

Introduction

Sustainability is not a new concern; since the introduction of the concept in 1987, there has been a proliferation of competing notions of sustainability to the extent that it has become an empty box, a fragmented concept It seems that sustainability is what you make of it [1]. The term ‘sustainability’ is increasingly used in the context of ecological, economic, and social studies. In green economics it is often used interchangeably with the term ‘sustainable development’, defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development as, “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” [3].

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Conclusion